Americans Draft Defense in 2015 CHL Import Draft
June 30, 2015 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release
KENNEWICK, WA - Tri-City Americans' Governor/General Manager Bob Tory announced today that the club has selected Juuso Valimaki with their pick (14th overall) in today's 2015 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft.
"We are excited to draft Jusso, he is an elite 1998 defenseman who has played as an underage for Finland at the World Championships," Tory said. "We look forward to Juuso joining our team and being a major contributor."
Valimaki, a 6'2 194 lb. defenseman of Nokia, Finland, played for Ilves Tampere of the Finnish Junior A-league last season, appearing in 44 games and collecting five goals, 20 points and 20 penalty minutes. Valimaki appeared in 10 post-season games, picking up a goal, 4 points and 6 penalty minutes. He played for Finland in the Ivan Hlinka Tournament in 2014 and the U-18 World Championships in 2015 as an underage.
Juuso Valimaki Stats
Season Team GP G A PTS +/- PIM
2014-15 Ilves Tampere 44 5 15 20 22 20
Intl-Jr Finland U17 3 0 2 2 1 0
WJC Finland U18 7 0 1 1 5 6
Intl-Jr Finland U18 23 0 5 5 7 8
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